This is the staggering amount homeowners spend on costs besides their mortgage

Home sales higher than expected in Feb. 2024

The National Association of Realtors reports U.S. home sales surged above expectations for the month of February. Corey Burr, the VP at Sotheby's International Realty joined LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow to discuss the changing market.

Homeowners spend nearly $18,000 a year on expenses aside from their mortgages each year, and nearly 67% of homeowners have regrets about their purchase.

According to a report from Real Estate Witch, the average costs for homeownership outside of mortgage payments went up $500, or about 3% since last year.

The report says nearly nine in 10 homeowners discovered the true cost of owning a home is more than they expected when they made the purchase. Some 28% of homeowners said they’ve considered going back to renting, and nearly half say they spend more owning a home than they did renting.

Nearly half of homeowners surveyed said they believe they overpaid for their houses.

A survey of 1,000 homeowners found that nearly one in five struggle to afford maintenance, so much so that they’d have to go into credit card debt to fund a $500 emergency repair.

What homeowners spend on costs besides their mortgages

The average homeowner spends the following on additional expenses, according to Real Estate Witch:

$5,362 on utilities
$4,392 on maintenance
$3,784 on renovations
$2,904 on property taxes
$1,516 on homeowners insurance

Homeowners surveyed said they spend about 11 hours a week – or 24.5 days a year – working on home upkeep and maintenance. The report says the high cost of homeownership may explain why 29% of homeowners plan to sell their house in the next five years. About half of homeowners believe owning a home is not attainable for the average American.

Most common regrets for homeowners

A house for sale in the Naples Park neighborhood of Naples, Florida, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Photographer: Lisette Morales McCabe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Homeowners surveyed had the following regrets when it came to buying their homes:

Their home is too small or lacks features they need (19%)
Their home requires too much maintenance (18%)
The location is not ideal (15%)
Their monthly mortgage payments are too high (15%)
They didn’t ask enough questions/complete enough research before purchasing (14%)
They bought a fixer-upper or older home (14%)
They dislike their neighbors (14%)
They were unprepared for hidden costs (13%)
Their interest rate is too high (13%)
They dislike their homeowners association (HOA) (13%)

About a third of homeowners say they’d be less stressed if they didn’t own a home.